He said the military was intent on destroying rocket sites and tunnels used by Hamas to launch strikes against Israel.

Mr Netanyahu spoke as thousands of troops, backed by tanks, artillery fire and fighter jets, poured into Gaza in a bid to seek and destroy the hardline Islamist group that controls the strip.

Gaza health officials said 60 Palestinians have been killed since the ground operation began late Thursday. Pictured is a convoy of Israeli Merkava tanks moving towards Israel's border with the Gaza Strip

The bodies of four children, three of them from the same family, lie on a slab at the morgue at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City

Innocent victim: This child was one of many Palestinians injured last night as Israeli bombs rained down on Gaza, destroying homes as well as military targets

The assault marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict, following ten days of airstrikes against the coastal enclave in response to days of intensive Hamas rocket fire on Israeli cities.

One Israeli soldier –named as Staff Sergeant Eitan Barak, 20 – died in the clashes. Palestinian militants claimed he had been killed in an ambush but Israel said he had been struck by friendly fire.

Health officials in Gaza said 27 Palestinians, including a baby, and a 70-year-old woman, had died since Israeli ground forces entered the densely-populated strip on Thursday night.

It was also reported that three children from the same family – aged 15, 13 and 11 – lost their lives when a tank shell struck their bedroom in the village of Al Nada Tawas. Throughout yesterday the sound of shell fire and bombing resounded, as Israeli naval gunboats moved closer to shore.

Hamas said Israel would ‘pay a high price’ for the invasion.

Killed: Sgt. Eitan Barak, 20, (left) was killed overnight at the start of a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. He was the first Israeli casualty among troops. Pictured, right, is an Israeli Apache helicopter as it launches a missile in the Gaza Strip in the air over an unspecified location in Israel

A Palestinian medic tries to comfort a wounded boy at Shifa hospital, in Gaza City as Israel continued its ground offensive deeper into Gaza today

Israel had been reluctant to launch a
ground offensive which would endanger its soldiers and risk
international condemnation over mounting Palestinian civilian deaths.

Mr Netanyahu had agreed to an
Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and to Thursday’s five-hour
humanitarian ceasefire – both ignored by Hamas.

FURY AS FRENCH BAN GAZA DEMOS

France's Socialist government was embroiled in a row yesterday after banning protests against Israeli action in Gaza.

In a move branded an attack on democracy, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said demonstrations planned for this weekend should be halted to avoid fights between ‘ultra’ Jewish vigilantes and pro-Palestinians.

Michele Sibony, of the Jewish Union for Peace, accused the government of ‘outlawing free speech’.

Youssef Boussoumah, of the Party of the Indigenous of the Republic, said: ‘France is criminalising any show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.’

He ordered the invasion after armed
militant fighters attempted to infiltrate Israel through a hidden tunnel
from Gaza. The gang of 13, believed to be plotting an attack on a
nearby kibbutz, were spotted as they emerged and were killed in a
massive airstrike.

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting in
Tel Aviv, Mr Netanyahu told the Israeli Defence Force to be ‘ready for
the possibility of a significant expansion of the ground operation.’
Around 270 Palestinians – three-quarters of them civilians – have died
since the start of the wider Israeli operation on July 8.

One Israeli has been killed by mortar fire and several seriously injured in rocket attacks.

Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party recently agreed to a unity government
with Hamas, has been holding talks in Cairo amid efforts to negotiate a
truce.

It came after the bodies of four
children, three from the same family, lay on a single mortuary slab in
the latest devastating picture to emerge of another Palestinian family
crushed by their loss.

The bodies of the four children,
including three from the Shuhaiber family, were pictured at the morgue
at Al Shiga Hospital in Gaza City as Israeli troops pushed deeper into
the region today to destroy rocket launching sites and tunnels in a bid
to weaken the enclave's Hamas rulers.

Terrified: A Palestinian child shouts at doctors at al-Shifa hospital. But Israeli public opinion appears to strongly support the offensive after days of unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza and years of southern Israeli residents living under the threat

Flares fired by the Israeli forces lit up the northern Gaza strip tonight as it was revealed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to travel to the region

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza today destroying rocket launching sites and tunnels, as well as clashing with Palestinian fighters

An Israeli boy and an elderly woman take cover in a bomb shelter in Ashkelon, Israel tonight after a ground incursion into Gaza last night

An Israeli boy and girl jump and play around while gathered in a bomb shelter. There have been 10 days of airstrikes against Hamas

A family sit and wait in a bomb shelter in Ashkelon. Israeli prime minister said he had ordered the military to prepare for a 'significant expansion' of the operation

As the Palestinian death toll rose to 271 since the operation began, Hamas' political leader, Khaled Meshaal, vowed never to accept a ceasefire until Israel called back its warplanes and 'lifts the siege' on Gaza. Pictured is smoke rising after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City today

Smoke rises from behind a mosque after an Israeli missile stroke on Gaza today as Israeli troops pushed deeper into the city

Meanwhile Israel lost its first soldier during the offensive this morning afterSgt. Eitan Barak, 20, from Herzliya, was killed deep behind enemy lines as hundreds of Israeli troops and tanks pushed into Gaza City, backed by a massive air assault that
pummeled the Palestinian metropolis.

Medics
have said Israeli tank fire killed five Palestinians in the city of
Rafah, including a five-month-old baby, while a 22-year-old was also
killed in a separate incident, AFP has reported.

Israel’s
first major ground offensive in Gaza in over five years came as
Egyptian ceasefire efforts stalled. Earlier this week, Israel accepted
Cairo’s offer to halt hostilities, but Hamas refused, demanding that
Israel and Egypt first give guarantees to ease the blockade on Gaza.

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'It
is not possible to deal with tunnels only from the air. It needs to be
done also from the ground,' Mr Netanyahu said before a special cabinet
meeting in Tel Aviv.

'We
chose to begin this operation after the other options were exhausted
and with the understanding that without the operation the price we will
pay can be very high.'

An Israeli tank moves into position near the Israel and Gaza border today after Israel launched a ground operation late on Thursday following a 10 day campaign

In a statement, the Israeli the military said it targeted rocket launchers, tunnels and more than 100 other targets

A young girl is treated for her injuries inside the emergency room in Shifa Hospital following a missile attack on her home in Gaza City

The circumstances around the Israeli
soldier's death remained shrouded in mystery today after Hamas' military
wing said he was killed in an ambush in the town of Beit Lahiya only
for Israeli media to counter claiming it was likely a case of friendly
fire.

News of his death
came as the Israeli Defence Force released night-vision footage of
heavily-armed troops creeping across the border, over barbed wire
barricades, into Gaza under cover of darkness.

And
as the Palestinian death toll rose to 271 since the operation began,
Hamas' political leader, Khaled Meshaal, vowed never to accept a
ceasefire until Israel called back its warplanes and 'lifts the siege'
on Gaza.

Meanwhile, the
city's half-a-million residents
spent last night cowering in their homes as Israeli bombs rained down,
destroying homes as well as military targets. As a result, Gaza's
hospitals have become flooded with civilian
victims, including dozens of young children and babies.

Gaza health officials said 27
Palestinians have been killed since the ground operation began late
Thursday. The military said it killed 14 militants in different
exchanges of fire. It was not immediately clear if the militants were
among those reported killed by Gaza authorities.

Israel's
chief military spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz told Army Radio 'there
were a number of points of friction through the night' and said the
military was investigating the circumstances behind the soldier's death.

Israeli infantry soldiers arrive at a gathering point at an unspecified location next to the Israel border with the Gaza Strip today following the Israeli army's incursion into the Gaza Strip

A volunteer helper talks to a little girl inside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City while her parents are being treated inside the emergency room after a rocket attack on their home in Gaza City

Pain: Israeli officials have said the goal is to weaken Hamas militarily and have not addressed the possibility of driving the Islamic militants from power

A Palestinian protester hurls a stone towards Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against the Israeli military action in Gaza, at Hawara checkpoint near the West Bank of Nablus

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to prepare for a 'significant expansion' of the operation. Pictured is a Palestinian protester as he hurls a stone towards Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against the Israeli military action in Gaza, at Hawara

In a statement, the
military said it targeted rocket launchers, tunnels and more than 100
other targets. The military said 'a number' of soldiers were injured
throughout the night.

As mediators gathered in Cairo to negotiate an end to the conflict, Hamas' political head, Mr Khaled Meshaal, refused to bow to Israeli firepower.

Speaking
to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Meshaal made three demands of Israel's
military chiefs: 'stop the aggression' of air strikes against targets in
Gaza; release dozens of Palestinians arrested in response to last
month’s killing of three Israeli students in the West Bank; and 'end the
siege on Gaza permanently'.

'These are our clear demands,' Mr
Meshaal told the paper. 'We won’t accept an agreement that prolongs the
suffering of our people anymore.

'In Gaza, for the past seven years of siege, its 1.8 million residents have been living in a prison.'

He added: 'Every oppressed person fights and tries to gain independence with very
limited resources; that’s how they fought in South Africa, and in the French
Revolution. The Palestinians know Israel is stronger than them, but the
Palestinains are also determined to liberate their land.'

Blameless: As the bombs continued to fall on
Gaza City, the emergency room at al-Shifa hospital in the city began
flooding with victims, many of whom were young children and babies

Ground offensive: As Gaza City burned after a night of intense bombing by Israeli forces, Israeli stepped up its offensive by sending hundreds of elite troops into the city in a large-scale ground offensive

Condemnation: Israel had been reticent about launching a ground offensive for fear of endangering its own soldiers and drawing international condemnation over Palestinian civilian deaths

Heavy guns: An Israeli army m-109 mobile artillery unit fires a shell toward the Gaza Strip in support of IDF forces operating inside the Northern Gaza Strip Area where Sgt Barak was killed

His comments came as information about Sgt. Barak began to emerge.

According
to the Times of Israel, the water sports enthusiast - who had only
recently graduated from high school - wanted to serve in a combat unit,
so he joined Battalion 931 of the Nahal Brigade, one of the IDF’s five
major infantry formations. Battalion 931 also saw two wounded in the
first day of fighting.

In Gaza City, plumes of black smoke
could be seen rising from areas near the border with Israel and
explosions echoed throughout the city.

Israeli
aircraft have struck more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and 261
Palestinians have been killed since the start of the fighting.

The
Israeli military said 50 rockets have been fired at Israel since the
start of its ground operation, out of more than 1,500 since the fighting
began last week. An Israeli civilian was killed earlier this week.

Medics wheel two wounded Palestinians into the emergency room of Shifa hospital in Gaza City this morning. Gaza health officials said 19 Palestinians have been killed since the ground operation began

Wounded: A wounded Palestinian boy waits to receive treatment after arriving to the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Israeli aircraft have struck more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and 261 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the fighting

Bomb blast: An Israeli rocket is fired into the northern Gaza Strip as hundreds of Israeli troops and tanks rolled into Gaza City last night, backed by a massive air assault that pummeled the Palestinian metropolis

Retaliation: Israeli rockets strike Gaza City as Israel intensified its 11-day campaign
against Hamas by sending in tanks and troops late Thursday after
becoming increasingly exasperated with unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza
on its cities

Battle: Smoke from flares rises in the sky in Gaza City after Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military announced its first casualty since the start of the ground operation, saying one soldier was killed in the region

Lighting the sky: An Israeli army flare illuminating the sky above the Gaza strip

Israel
said it launched an open-ended assault on several fronts, with the
primary aim being to destroy underground tunnels into Israel built by
Hamas that could be used to carry out attacks.

Earlier Thursday, 13 heavily armed
Hamas militants had tried to sneak into Israel through such a tunnel,
but were stopped by an airstrike after they emerged some 250 meters (820
feet) inside Israel.

Israeli
officials have said the goal is to weaken Hamas militarily and have not
addressed the possibility of driving the Islamic militants from power.

However, Hamas has survived Israeli offensives in the past, including a
major ground operation in January 2009 from which it emerged militarily
weaker, but then recovered. Hamas has since assembled thousands of
rockets and built a system of underground bunkers.

Tanks: This image made from video released by the Israeli military today shows a tank crossing into the Gaza Strip at the Israel-Gaza border at the beginning of a ground offensive late last night

Troops: The same video showed what it said were Israeli troops crossing the border into Gaza for the offensive

Assault: Hundreds of elite Israeli troops are now in Gaza attacking Hamas targets

Israel
had been reticent about launching a ground offensive for fear of
endangering its own soldiers and drawing international condemnation over
Palestinian civilian deaths.

But after thousands of troops had been on standby for several days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to prepare for a 'significant expansion' of the ground offensive.

But Israeli public opinion appears to
strongly support the offensive after days of unrelenting rocket fire
from Gaza and years of southern Israeli residents living under the
threat.

Israel's Cabinet was set to meet later on Friday to be briefed on the assault.

Uri
Ariel, a Cabinet minister from the hard-line Jewish Home party, told
Israel Radio that airstrikes alone would not neutralize Hamas' weapons.
He said he expected that ground forces would penetrate Gaza further.

'There won't be a choice. The military will need to enter deeper,' he said.

Running for their lives: Palestinians travel in a motorbike rickshaw as they flee their houses following an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

Walk or drive: Thousands of Palestinians are abandoning their homes as bombs continued to fall

Iron Dome: A missile is launched by an 'Iron Dome' battery, a missile defence system designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod

Casualties: In a statement, the military said it targeted rocket launchers, tunnels and more than 100 other targets. The military said 'a number' of soldiers were injured throughout the night

Fear: Residents run to inspect the damage after a building was hit by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City

The morning after: The heavy thud of tank shells, often just seconds apart, echoed across the Gaza Strip early this morning as thousands of Israeli soldiers launched a ground invasion

Hazy: The military said it killed 14 militants in different exchanges of fire. It was not immediately clear if the militants were among those reported killed by Gaza authorities

FRANCE SPARKS FURY AS IT BECOMES FIRST IN WORLD TO BAN PROTESTS AGAINST ISRAELI OFFENSIVE ON GAZA

Attack: In what is viewed as an outrageous attack on democracy, Socialist Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said mass demonstrations planned for the weekend should be halted

By PETER ALLEN

France's Socialist government provoked outrage today by becoming the first in the world to ban protests against Israeli action in Palestine.

In what is viewed as an outrageous attack on democracy, Socialist Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said mass demonstrations planned for the weekend should be halted.

Mr Cazeneuve said there was a ‘threat to public order’, while opponents said he was ‘criminalising’ popular support of the Palestinian people.

Thousands were set to march against the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, calling for an immediate end to hostilities in which civilians including many children have been killed.

But Mr Cazeneuve fears there might be a repeat of the fights between ‘ultra’ Jewish vigilantes and pro-Palestinians which happened after a demonstration last Sunday.

Referring to the main Paris march, Mr Cazeneuve said: ‘I consider that the conditions are not right to guarantee security.’ He welcomed a legal procedure instigated by the Paris police prefecture to ban the march, despite it already being widely advertised.

Mr Cazeneuve also advised other prefects across France to examine planned marches on a ‘case by case’ basis, and to ban ‘if appropriate’. But Michele Sibony, of the Jewish Union for Peace, said: ‘By outlawing free speech by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, France puts itself in a unique position in the world and Europe.’

And Youssef Boussoumah, of the Party of the Indigenous of the Republic (PIR) said: ‘France is criminalising any show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

‘This is an absolute outrage, it is a continuation of attempts to muzzle the Palestinian people and to get them and their supporters in France to surrender absolutely to Israel's oppression.’

Sylvie Perrot, another pro-Palestine activist from Paris, said: ‘Fascist states stop people demonstrating against wars – it is beyond belief that French Socialists are following their example.’

There were false claims made last week that synagogues in Paris had been targeted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. In fact videos showed armed vigilantes from a group called the Jewish Defence League (LDJ) baiting demonstrators into fights.

There were no arrests among the LDJ, despite them fighting and smashing up property in full view of the police. Six pro-Palestine protestors were arrested for a variety of public order offences, but none had been anywhere near Paris synagogues, which remained undamaged.

A judicial enquiry is set to be launched into the false allegations made about the synagogue attacks – ones which people claim were made up to demonise supporters of Palestine by associating them with anti-Semitism.